Passover's Clarion Call: Voice of Heirs of Prophets

By RABBI EMANUEL RACKMAN

(Copyright 1970, JTA, Inc.)

(Rabbi Heckman, former president
of the Neu, York Hoard of Rabbis,
and rabbi of Fifth Avenue Synagogue,
affirms on this Pa,sorer that the Jew
but
no longer remain silent
must
must speak out for the redemption
of all mankind.)
•
s
•

How does this Passover differ
from all other Passovers? For me
it will be different. My problem this
year will not be how do I explain
to sophisticated children and grand-
children the miracles that precipi-
tated the exodus from Egypt and
how dd I make them believe that
it all l?appened? Rather will I ask:
"Can anything less than God's ca-
taclysmic intervention in history
now stop the mad march of the big
powers to the destruction of all
mankind? Can anything less than
miracles restore the pursuit of
justice and peace instead of the
enthronement of megalomania and
lust of every kind?"
Our world is sick—sicker than
ever. The Jewish situation, as
usual, is only symptomatic of the
universal malaise. Jews do try
hard to achieve their own redemp-
tion. But every move they make
only reveals the hopeless depravity
of the very nations who can and
ought to reverse the trend to sani-
ty and international morality. Rea-
son is not prevailing. Human life
is losing its value. The hearts of
all the Pharaohs are hardened.
They are the prisoners of their
own national pride and are lead-
ing their hosts to a new Red Sea
of annihiliation. Is not this pre-
cisely the situation of which the
Prophets spoke—with nothing less
than God's overwhelming interven-
tion needed to bring redemption?
Indeed this is the heart of the
biblical message. Man's righte-
ousness is found wanting and
God must Intervene. The first
Jew, Abraham, tried to save not
his nephew but the cities of So-
dom and Gemora. He could not
stay their bitter fate. And until
this day every visitor to the area
Is struck with awe by the devas-
tation that is still in view. Abra-
ham's descendants were later
trapped in an Egypt that knew
no God. Again havoc and death
en:Sued on an indescribable scale.
Thereafter Jews themselves did

not always remember their Re-
deemer and His reason for their
redemption.
Though they survived as a peo-
ple, they suffered indescribably on
most of the continents of the earth.
However, when they sought to ful-
fill the Prophetic promise that in
due time they would be restored
to their homeland, the id in most
of the peoples of the earth came to
the fore again. The standards of
Sodom and Gemora displaced the
virtues that the Bible mandated.
The Prophets' characterization of
Assyria and Babylon, Egypt and
Rome, are not applicable to all the
powers that rule. Can a Daxid pos-
sibly succeed against the 'many
modern Goliaths without the stun-
ning, miracle-packed revelation of
God's redemptive power? The Six-
Day War was prelude. Is the war
of Gog and Magog the only way
out now?
Frankly this Passover I am wor-
ried. My commitment as a Jew in-
volves me in a paradox. I believe
that God cannot redeem us without
our being worthy of that redemp-
tion and without our personal par-
ticipation in it. But I also believe
that man is not the only author of
history. God, too, plays a very im-
portant role. I do not share the
view once entertained by many
Jews—and now only by a few that
until God acts we cannot change
the course of events. Nor can I
share the view that man himself
is the sole master of his destiny.
God has His purposes for our ex-
istence and His Creation. He would
have hoped that we could share
His Will and fulfill the messianic
dream. But as we fail, He must in-
tervene.
Every intervention ought leave
its mark.
Witness, Nasser three years ago
and Nasser today. But he is only
the pawn. What of the Soviet Un-
ion? Even Red China wants to get
into the act and establish ties with
Israel's enemies, the El Fatah.
Never in human history were so
many ravaging lions hellbent on
the destruction of one lamb. The
lineup is terrifying. It shows that
a Satan of supernatural dimensions
is at work in the hearts of many.
If there were but a flash of mo-

Rabbi Emanuel Backman

mentary sanity in the picture ev-
eryone would realize that the sit-
uation is one that only a devil
could have conjured. But there is
no sanity and, as in Egypt long
ago, and as in the Six-Day War
not so long ago, the finger of God
must strike.
If I do not believe this, how shall
I live !
But God does not want us only
to pray for His intervention. For
centuries this was all the Jew
could do. The Prophets had been
more fortunate. They were able to
address themselves to those whom
God wanted to warn. Thus Jonah
spoke to Ninevah. And Obadiah to
Edom. And Isaiah, Jeremiah, and
Ezekiel, to all the civilizations of
the Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates
valleys. But after the age of proph-
ecy Jews had to be silent. They
could commune only with their
Father in heaven and not with any-
one else who would listen.
However, the age of the democ-
racies did finally dawn. And Abra-
ham Lincoln called it "the last
best hope of the earth." Jews had
helped to fashion it and preserve
it. And once again they are able
to speak—to admonish—to warn.
This, as a Jew, I must do—and
do as never before. None of us
has the ancient gift of prophecy.
But we are the heirs, the descen-
dants of prophets. And their role
we must play.

In France, in England, and espe-
cially in the United States, we must
speak up. We must speak with one
voice. We must speak with convic-
tion. We must speak without fear.
And we must make it clear that it
is not ourselves alone that we seek
to save but all mankind which is in
as much danger as we. We speak
to serve humanity.
All the excuses that are being
offered to justify the hardening
of the hearts of those who bead
the democracies are sham. The
devil is their author. Not a sense
of justice and not even a sense
of reality.
If the oil interests claim that the
democracies must be "evenhand-
ed" vis-a-vis both Israel and the
Arab countries, let us expose the
lie implicit in the recommendation.
Israel was never favored by the
democracies and never received
aid comparable to what had been
given, and is still being given, by
East and West to the Arabs. Not
in the United Nations, not in ec-
onomic assistance, not in military
equipment, and certainly not in the
press or Christian pulpit.
If Israel is maligned because of
the refugee problem, let us counter
with the boast that no democracy,
not to mention the brutal, bestial,
Communist countries, ever treated
its minorities — Indians, Blacks,
colonials, as fairly and as decently
as Israelis have coped, and are
still coping, with their Arab cit-
izens and refugees. Of course, war
brings its dislocation of many per-
sons. Who more than Jews were
dislocated in the wars of this cen-
tury! But none of Israel's wars
were of her making. They were
forced upon her by the very peo-
ple who now accuse her of in-
humane behavior. Did not England
engineer the War of Independence?
Did not Nasser precipitate the Six-
Day War? And did not the USSR
and the United States—Eisenhow-
er and Dulles—make Nasser the
bully that he is? Where Jews are
still free, let them talk like the
prophets of old—without fringing
and without apologies.
And what if Israel declines to
return any of the conquered areas?
To whom do they belong? To
Egypt? Were they ever a part of

Egypt? To Jordan? Didn't Jordan
sieze them from Israel in 1948
when Israel was beleaguered on
many fronts, fighting for survival?
Is not Jordan herself a state
brought into existence after World
War I only to make possible Eng-
land's" divide and rule" technique
in the Middle East? What kind of
claims is the world submitting to
embarrass the Jew? They are no
better' than forged documents and
perjured testimony. Even Pharaoh
of old did not resort to such sub-
terfuges. He was honest enough to
speak in the name of his ego and
not in the name of lofty virtue !
And woe unto us! These false
arguments our enemies are using
to alienate our own children from
us and our cause ! This is the most
heinous offense of all. Using lies to
make our offspring think that we
are the villains ! Yet this is pre-
cisely what they are doing.
An older generation grew up
with the glorious history of Zion-
ism as a part of its daily experi-
ence—the costly, lawful, acquisi-
tion of land from Arabs; the often
fatal redemption of the swamps
from malarial infection; the heart-
warming experimentation with kib-
utz life and other forms of coop-
erative enterprise — all of this
coupled with the callous indiffer-
ence of humanity to the Holocaust
and Jewish genocide. This was the
experience of the parents, while
the children hear from our ene-
mies that we are the murderers,
the exploiters, the colonialists !
For this crime of alienation
there can be no atonement. Does
it differ from the kidnaping of
Jewish youth in Czarist Russia to
raise them as Christians?
Of all of this we must speak as
the Prophets of old. And thus like
them, on this Passover I shall pray
for the miraculous redemption
without which at the moment I
cannot imagine mankind can be
saved. But I shall also plead for a
resurgence of penitence and just-
ice in the hope that man will yet
spare God the need to make mani-
fest His power. I shall speak up to
men and ask them to redeem them-
selves in the eyes of God and
their posterity. This is my duty on
this Passover.

A Rabbi's Odyssey—Mission From Munich to Rome

By RABBI EDWARD SANDROW

(A Seven Arts Feature)

In January I came to Munich as
an emissary of the chief of chap-
plains and the commission of chap-
laincy of the National Jewish Wel-
fare Board. It was my task to
speak to about
200 laymen who
serve in govern-
mental agencies
and to conduct a
retreat (a strange
and borrowed
r.
word for Jews I
for Jewish chap-
lains ministering
to men and wom-
en in the army .111
and air force in Rabbi Sandrow
various parts of Europe and in the
NATO countries. The thought of
visiting the country in which the
greatest calamity in our history
took place was anathema to me.
Yet, I wanted to serve my country,
and at the same time teach and
preach and meet fellow Jews.
Munich is now rebuilt. It is a
well constructed, bustling, pros-
perous looking city. There are no
gaping holes in the ground which
one still finds in London or Cov-
entry or Rotterdam. Munich is af-
fluent, fat and flushed like the
beer drinking Bavarians who in-
habit the area. It is approximately
100 miles from Berchtesgaden
where the seminars and classes
took place. The autobahn is framed
by snow covered mountains and
valleys. We rode by villages and
communities—clean, sturdy, well
constructed. It is difficult to be-
lieve "they lost" and "we won."

Nazis on "Kristalnacht." There
was good reason for it. The house
of worship, near the Judengasse,
served as the underpinning of an
apartment house complex. To des-
troy the synagogue would have
meant the destruction of scores of
housing units in the area. There is
no organized Jewish life to speak
of. Some Jews are in retail busi-
nesses again. The synagogue acts
as a center on Friday nights for
those who profess their Jewishness.
But outside oft/this fact, the atmos-
phere is cold and grey. The gov-
ernment has relations with Israel.
The JDC here expedites European
immigration to Israel from various
parts of Europe. The Jewish Agen-
cy plays a dynamic role in gather-
ing up remnants of our people and
air-lifting them to Israel. The core
community, however, seems to be
hanging on to life.
It was not without some inner
The Austrian border is not far
from Berchtesgaden. A train took fear that I decided to go behind
me from Salzburg to Vienna and "the Iron Curtain" into Hungary.
from Vienna to Budapest. Wherever One automatically senses the
one goes inu Vienna and its en- change from the West t o the East.
virons, there are statues of Monart It is certainly not in the realm of
and Goethe and other illustrious
geniuses of the mind and psyche. economic or political philosophy.
And yet, one knows, as a rabbi
There are about 50,000 Jews in
there told me "The Austraians Budapest, and some are assimilat-
were — and are — more saturated td. Others do not identify. (There
with the miasma of anti-Semitism were once more than a half mil-
than the Germans."
lion Jews in Hungary). There is
an organized Jewish community
Austria still has some 10,000 led by Dr. Geza Seiffert, a well
Jews, most of them living in Vien- groomed and articulate lawyer who
na. The synagogue has as its spir- took me to the offices of the Jew-
itual leader Chief Rabbi Eisen- ish Federation.
Dr. Seiffert was quick to in-
berg, a learned and charming man.
form me that "we live in a
The synagogue was one of the few
country that truly practices the
which was not destroyed by the

Berchtesgaden is a beautiful
town, surrounded — almost en-
veloped—by the Bavarian and
Austrian Alps. The snow was
high and skiers could be seen
everywhere. The driver, speak-
ing German with some English
words thrown in, made the fol-
lowing unsolicited statement, "I
was in the German army during
the war. I didn't like it and we,
ordinary soldiers and villagers,
never really knew what was go-
ing on." I asked him and several
others who subsequently chauf-
fered me from place to place,
"Did you ever see Hitler and his
associates?" All of them without
exception gave me the same an-
swer, "We knew that they were
meeting in these parts but we
did not know where or what was
happening." The story is almost
rehearsed

separation of church and state."
He then pointed out, while there
May be some anti-Semitism in
Hungary, the state is opposed to
all forms of discrimination and
racism—that "it does not inter-
fere with us" and we, in turn
"do not interfere with it."
There is a majestic, magnificent
synagogue in Budapest, one of the
largest in the world, as well as a
few small shules in the city. There
is a seminary in the community
headed by Dr. Alexander Scheiber.
There are eight or nine rab-
binical students in the seminary
whom I met, as well as two stu-
dents studying for the cantorate.
The foyer of the edifice contains
a plaque in memory of 20,000 Jews
of Budapest who were herded to-
gether by Eichmann in the semi-
nary and sent to their death. It is
only a miracle that prevented him
from destroying many of the rare
books and incunabula which are
still found in the seminary . al-
though the library stacks are dusty
and neglected.
Belgrade, and Yugoslavia as a
whole, have about 5,000 Jews out
of a community that once had
15 times that many or more.
The Jewish community in Bel-
grade, made up of Sephardic and
Ashkenazic Jews, traces its his-
tory from Roman times. During
World War II, thousands of Jews
served as partisans and 12 Jews
are recognized as national heroes.
There is a synagogue in Novi Sad
which is on the outskirts of Bel-
grade. There is also a synagogue
in Sarajeio, the city associated

with the famous Passover Hagada.
There is no rabbi in Yugoslavia
and there are few teachers left
but the community maintains two
kindergartens and two choral
groups. A home for the Jewish aged
exists in Zagreb and the commu-
nity center in Belgrade sponsors
Hebrew classes.
While the government broke
off relations with Israel after
the June 1967 war, many of the
university students are definite-
ly Pro-Israel. It is an interest-
ing phenomenon; the new left
in our country — Jews among
them — are either indifferent or
antagonistic to Israel. The real
left among the youth in some
of the Communistic countries
— with some exceptions — are
sympathetic, seek an understand.
ing of the rationale behind Is-
rael's struggle for survival.
From Yugaslavia, my odyssey
took me to Rome, I sought out my
people, in the synagogue on the
Tiber river. It was Shabat Shira,
the Sabbath on which we chant
the song of freedom which Moses
and the children of Israel sang
when they were redeemed from
Egyptian bondage at the time of
the first Passover.

Later I walked to the building
which houses Michaelangelo's
statue of Moses. I stood in front
of the statue for a long while and
something within me seemed to
say "Moses, we sang your song
today. Much more redemption is
needed."

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
56—Friday, April 17, 1970